Tips for Success: 8 Small Things You Can Do Everyday To Become Highly Successful

What are your main three priorities in your life? Do your priorities match up with where you’re spending your time? If so, awesome. If not, you’ll need to work extra hard to be intentional about spending more time on your priorities, and getting rid of the junk that prevents you from doing what’s important to you.

Is Candy Crush or stalking your high school friend on Facebook on your priority list? How about the latest Netflix series? If not, then stop spending so much time doing it. The average American spends 14 hours each week watching TV and 90 minutes each day on Social Media. Really think about how you want to spend your life – you will likely only feel successful if you spend your time on what matters most to you.

Looking for tips for success but having a tough time focusing on just three? Try an idea dump. Dump all of your priorities, ideas and focus points onto a piece of paper and narrow the list down from there. Once you have just three, make an effort to spend the majority of your time on one of these priorities.

Have an agenda for the day and when you meet with people. Too many people only plan generically for the day.

They also don't walk into meetings, parties and coffee dates blind. They decide what they want to learn from people before walking through the door.

An agenda helps you prioritize and see the big picture. By giving each task the appropriate amount of time in your day, you won’t waste time on smaller things while having to rush more important tasks. When you map out your day, you can put a segment of time towards research and generating new ideas, rather than getting caught up with day-to-day issues. Working smarter not harder means you’ll have more time to spend on your other priorities. Enjoy the calm feeling of having a clear structure to your day. Starting each day by carefully mapping out all your tasks means you won’t be able to ignore those ones you enjoy doing less.

Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania has studied this phenomenon more than anyone else has, and he’s found that success in life is driven by one critical distinction -- whether you believe that your failures are produced by personal deficits beyond your control or that they are mistakes you can fix with effort.

Success isn’t the only thing determined by your mindset. Seligman has found much higher rates of depression in people who attribute their failures to personal deficits. Optimists fare better; they treat failure as learning experiences and believe they can do better in the future.

This success mindset requires emotional intelligence (EQ), and it’s no wonder that, among the million-plus people that TalentSmart has tested, 90 percent of top performers have high EQs.

Research shows that people tend to be optimistic by nature, but what if you're naturally more of an Eeyore? Strengthen your sense of hope: The trick is to act like an optimistic person, even if you aren't feeling particularly hopeful. "If you think that the future can be positive, you're more willing to put in time and energy to make that come about," says Suzanne Segerstrom, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky. By being engaged and persistent, even if you don't feel particularly positive, the benefits of optimism—like satisfaction and health—will soon follow.

When was the last time you read a book, or a substantial magazine article? Do your daily reading habits center around tweets, Facebook updates, or the directions on your instant oatmeal packet? If you’re one of countless people who don’t make a habit of reading regularly, you’re missing out. Science is clear, reading has a significant number of benefits.

Ultra-successful people sow life seeds all the time. They invest both time and money into their future.
In this hectic and crazy world we all live in, the ultra-successful set aside time for themselves. In this world of materialism, they realize the power of spending money on their future success.

Start with just 30 minutes each day and you’ll be smarter, more confident and one step further than your peers. Studies show that reading helps improve short-term memory & the ability to concentrate, stabilizes moods, forges new brain pathways and helps strengthen existing ones.

Reading invigorates us, opens our minds and increases our vocabulary. Research shows that those who are well-read, well-spoken, and knowledgeable on a variety of topics are better entrepreneurs and tend to get promotions more quickly (and more often) than those with smaller vocabularies and lack of awareness of literature, scientific breakthroughs, and global events.

Read material that inspires you and lights your fire. Delve into self-development. Absorb as much information as you possibly can. There’s always more to learn.

Successful people believe in a simple notion: you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Just think about it -- some of the most successful companies in recent history were founded by brilliant pairs. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple lived in the same neighborhood, Bill Gates and Paul Allen of Microsoft met in prep school, and Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google met at Stanford.

Just as great people help you to reach your full potential, toxic people drag you right down with them. Whether it's negativity, cruelty, the victim syndrome or just plain craziness, toxic people create stress and strife that should be avoided at all costs.

This general group of people — whom we can safely call “toxic” — might resent your journey to becoming a highly successful person for any number of reasons. Perhaps they think you’ll no longer be in their life if you improve too much. Maybe they feel like your improvement exposes their own shortcomings. Or perhaps they’re just threatened by the idea of change.

The causes are less important than the effects, which can take the form of anger, resentment, frustration, manipulation or cruelty (or a debilitating combination thereof). At any given moment, you might be finding yourself dealing with toxic friends, family members or colleagues who — consciously or unconsciously — are sabotaging your happiness and growth. Identifying these individuals and understanding how to manage them is absolutely crucial to your well-being, success and happiness.

Hitting the “friend” button isn’t enough in 2017. Real success, the kind that exists on multiple levels, is impossible without building great relationships. Real success is impossible unless you treat other people with kindness, regard, and respect. Your network should be one of people who know you, like you and trust you.

Feel like you're collecting names, not building meaningful relationships? Then chances are your networking strategy needs an overhaul. The most extraordinary professional relationships are built by ordinary actions.

A great relationship is mutually beneficial. In business terms that means connecting with people who can be mentors, who can share information, who can help create other connections; in short, that means going into a relationship wanting something.

The person who builds great relationships doesn't think about what she wants; she starts by thinking about what she can give. She sees giving as the best way to establish a real relationship and a lasting connection. She approaches building relationships as if it's all about the other person and not about her, and in the process builds relationships with people who follow the same approach.

People who build extraordinary relationships pay close attention to their connections so they can tell when others are struggling. Then they offer to help, but not in a general, "Is there something I can do to help you?" way. Instead they come up with specific ways they can help so they can push past the reflexive, "No, I'm okay..." objections.

Where relationships are concerned, face value is usually without value. Often people will ask a different question than the one they really want answered.

A colleague might ask you whether he should teach a class at a local college; what he really wants to talk about is how to take his life in a different direction.

A partner might ask how you felt about the idea he presented during the last board meeting; what he really wants to talk about is his diminished role in the running of the company.

An employee might ask how you built a successful business; instead of kissing up he might be looking for some advice--and encouragement--to help him follow his own dreams.

Behind many simple questions is often a larger question that goes unasked. People who build great relationships think about what lies underneath so they can answer that question, too.

It's exhausting, this modern life. While it may seem like you should squeeze as many extra minutes of sleep out of the morning as possible, the opposite is usually true.

Take advantage of that time before breakfast when the chaos of the day has yet to set in. For most people, waking up early is a learned practice. No kids yelling, no babies crying, no soccer balls, no cars, no television noise. The early morning hours are so peaceful, so quiet and so productive.

First, make sure you're cognizant enough to make the decision. Putting your alarm clock right next to your pillow is bound to result in you hitting snooze from a dazed state. You can't be expected to make smart choices while you're still dreaming. In addition, waking up early needs to become a pleasant experience. So if the thought of going straight from your warm bed to a shower or treadmill seems abrupt, then don't do it. Instead, move from your bed to the cozy corner chair in your living room and read for a bit with a mug of coffee. What you do early on doesn't matter, what matters is that you use the time in productive ways.

It’s one thing to have an idea. It’s another thing to take action.

Every journey to success has a Point A (starting place) and Point B (goal place). You may have a plan on how you’re getting from point A to point B, but you probably aren’t taking action each day to get closer to point B. Most people with a plan don't take enough action. You've got to totally immerse yourself in your goals and take action each and every day to get there.

Have you always dreamed of owning your own business? Awesome! Take action today. That doesn’t mean quit your job this second…but identify the steps that needs to take place in order to achieve your goal and work on them every day.

What gives you a pit in your stomach that you know will make you a better person, a better parent, a better boss, a better employee, or will help you reach your big audacious goals? If it’s uncomfortable, it’s probably something we know we should start doing.